The Reproductive Behavior of Families with Thalassemic Children in Hormozgan

BACKGROUND Thalassemic disorders are the most prevalent monogenic hereditary diseases around the world caused by decreased and altered synthesis or agenesis in one or more globin chains. Families who have a child with thalassemia major face a myriad of significant problems. Hormozgan province ranks second with thalassemic patients in Iran. Therefore, current research is aimed to analyze the reproductive behavior of such families in the southern province of Iran. METHODS In this descriptive study 190 mothers of patients suffering from thalassemia major were included. The reproductive behavior of mothers was investigated by a questionnaire regarding the number of thalassemic infants born after their first child with thalassemia major. RESULTS About 23% of these mothers had more than 1 child with major thalassemia. The findings showed that the reasons for conception among these mothers were to have a healthy child (64.2%) and to have a boy (20%). In about 92.6% of mothers CVS test was not performed. CONCLUSION This study showed that awaring mothers and families regarding the prevention of birth of afflicted infants and provision of accessible diagnostic facilities can reduce the number of children with thalassemia major.